You are here

The President Recognizes Northwest Side CDC Loan Recipient

The President Recognizes Northwest Side CDC Loan Recipient

On February 15th, 2012, President Barack Obama recognized the innovative efforts of Diamond Precision, a manufacturing plant that received a loan from Northwest Side CDC, to use Community Economic Development (CED) funds to expand its operations and create jobs for low-income people in Milwaukee, WI. In his speech at the Master Lock plant in Milwaukee, President Obama stressed the importance of “insourcing” to America’s recovery efforts, praised Milwaukee’s impressive job-creation projects and commended Diamond Precision on bringing work previously done overseas back to the United States.

Northwest Side CDC has received numerous CED grants since 2006 and has used these funds to serve the needs of Milwaukee's low-income communities. In 2010, Northwest Side CDC was awarded a CED grant, which provided a $700,000 loan to Diamond Precision to continue its expansion by purchasing equipment and making improvements to its manufacturing facility. According to wisn.com, “Two years ago, the company had 55 employees and was struggling to keep them all on. Today, between plants in Johnson Creek and Milwaukee, it has more than doubled its workforce.”

Diamond Precision is an example of the critical role that manufacturing jobs will play in the economic future of Milwaukee and the nation as a whole. Diamond Precision plans to add up to 40 new jobs in the near future and as many as 100 jobs as a result of its expansion.